Before, During and After Sex
by Anne T.M
Summary: This is a follow up to A Christmas Miracle. It follows tells the story of three couples and how they are dealing with Voyager's return.


Disclaimer: Paramount owns everything. No infringement intended.

This is continuation of the previous secret Santa story "A Christmas Miracle"

Before, During and After Sex

Rated NC-17

Prologue

After the unexpected return of Voyager, there were debriefings, meetings and parties. After a brief Christmas break the crew returned to San Francisco for a month. Though no one was officially detained it was common knowledge that everyone should remain in the area until all was settled. The crew remained close, sharing their hopes and fears throughout the holiday season. Finally, in early February Starfleet planned an official celebration of their return. On Friday, the world would be formally introduced to the returning heroes. The entire crew and their families were expected to attend. Elizabeth Paris had some plans of her own. After the event she insisted that her son and his family along with Gretchen and her family would come to stay with her and Owen for the weekend.

Before

Tom sat on the side of the bed and took off his slippers. He'd just spent the last half- hour with his parents as they tucked Miral in for the night. He couldn't help the tears that had risen to his eyes when his mother first led him to the room that adjoined his. She'd set up a nursery for his daughter. It wasn't a makeshift room but rather a full-fledged brand new nursery. It was filled with colorful wall hangings, a rocking chair and more stuffed animals than any one child should have. There was one item that wasn't new and that was the cradle. Tom knew immediately that it was the same one that his mother had used to rock both he and his sisters to sleep when they were babies. Seeing his daughter in that cradle was what brought the tears to his eyes.

Belanna sat up in bed and stroked her husband's shoulder. "You're awfully quiet."

Tom stood up and pulled back the covers and slipped into bed. "Sorry. I was just thinking about my parents." He reached his arm out around her pillow. That was all the encouragement she needed to slide across the bed and rest her head on his shoulder. "Did you see the nursery?"

Belanna ran her hand back and froth across Tom's chest. "Yes, I did. Your mother showed it to me right when we got here. It's beautiful."

Tom tightened his arm around his wife. "You know she expects us to stay here until we find a place of her own." Tom was unsure how his wife would feel about living with his parents.

"I know. We talked about it earlier."

"What did she say?"

Belanna rolled over onto her back. She took Tom's left hand and pulled it down across her shoulder. She could feel the tension in his body. Despite the joy he felt at coming home, he was still so unsure of where he fit in this family. He was no longer the rebellious boy that left home in anger. He was an accomplished officer; a loving husband and an adoring father and his mother knew this. "She sat with me in the nursery while I fed Miral. At first we talked about your childhood. She told me that the cradle had been yours when you were a baby." Belanna laughed.

Tom turned to face her. "What?"

"Your mom said that you were a handful even then." Tom smiled down at his wife. "We talked for awhile about nothing in particular. Then she took Miral from me and walked around the room. While she held her she told me how happy she was to have me for a daughter-in-law. While she patted her grand daughter's back she told me how she knew it would take a strong woman to love her son. Then she stopped and looked me in the eye and told me that she knew I loved you and that was all she needed to know. Then she asked me if we'd consider staying with them until we were settled."

Tom caressed his wife's shoulder as she spoke. "What did you say?"

"I told her that I would have to talk to you first but I thought that it was a very good idea." Tom pulled his wife flush against him and held her tightly. He pulled back slowly and lowered his lips to hers. He gently kissed the woman who'd changed his life. Belanna opened her eyes. She could see the strong emotions played out on Tom's face. "Don't you want to stay here?"

Tom rolled onto his back and pulled Belanna with him. She was nestled against his side, not quite on top of him but not quite on the bed either. "No, I mean yes I want to stay here. It's just something my father told me." Tom felt Belanna stiffen. He knew what she was thinking. He rubbed her back with his hand. "Relax. It was nothing like that." Tom took a deep breath. "He told me that he and my mom almost got a divorce."

Belanna leaned up on her elbow. She stared down at her husband who now had his arm draped across his eyes. "What?"

"You heard me. They almost got a divorce." Belanna settled back down against her husband. "My father told me that a few years after we were declared missing my mother told him that if he didn't change she would leave him. Apparently he became a very sullen man after we were lost. He was mean to everyone and angry all the time."

"That must have been very hard on her."

"I imagine it was. From what he said that was when she became good friends with the Captain's mother. As my father put it they both had a lot in common. They each lost a child and a husband."

Belanna rubbed her check across his chest. "Oh Tom, that's awful."

"I know. All the time we were in the Delta Quadrant I really didn't think about how this was affecting them. I assumed that they mourned when they thought that we were dead but I never thought beyond that."

"What changed?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well something must have changed since they are still together."

"It was Pathfinder. He told me that once he got involved in that it gave him hope. He hoped that he would somehow be able to return her son to her. He felt like it was his fault that I was estranged from them."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that there was enough guilt to go around that he should let it go."

"What did he say?"

Tom coughed a little. "He took me in arms and said he was sorry for all the years of anger and that he loved me very much." Tom swallowed hard. "Then he told me that he was proud of the man that I'd become and he wasn't sure that I would've grown so much if I had stayed here."

Belanna tried to snuggle even closer but was surprised when Tom lifted her until she was lying on top of him. "Then I hugged him again and told him that he was right. I could never have become the man that I am now if I'd not been on Voyager because I would never have met the woman who makes my life complete." Tom leaned up and kissed her quickly. "Then we walked out of the study arm and arm and my father told me he knew exactly what I meant because his very reason for living was upstairs playing with his grand daughter."

Belanna leaned her head down closer to her husband's face. He reached up and took her face in his hands. "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." Then he pulled her lips down to meet his.

During

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." Then he pulled her lips down to meet his.

She pushed up on his chest to stop her descent. "Don't be ridiculous, Chakotay. You know there are many women prettier than me." She got a sly smile on her face as she continued teasing him. "In fact you dated one not too long ago."

Chakotay moved so quickly that Kathryn screamed as he flipped her onto her back. His palms were flat on the bed directly above her shoulders. Slowly he lowered his weight down. "You may be in charge in the conference room, Admiral Janeway, but tonight, in this bedroom, I am in charge. And if I say that you are the most beautiful woman in the world then you are the most beautiful woman in the world. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

Chakotay straddled her. He balanced his weight on his knees and slowly unbuttoned her pajama top. When he was finished he stared down at the creamy white skin that was now revealed. "Right now I am looking at the most beautiful breasts ever created." He used his hands to massage her stomach then he slid them up until they covered her breasts. He ran has palms back and forth across the tight buds. "They're just the right size." He squeezed them gently and her back arched in response. "They're firm yet soft." He leaned his head down and rubbed his cheek across the soft white flesh. "And some day in the near future they will provide the food that nurtures our child." Chakotay turned his head until his mouth latched onto one of her nipples. He sucked softly at first as he used his tongue to manipulate the peak. When he felt her hands wildly running through his hair he sucked even harder until she cried out in pleasure. He continued his assault until she was thrashing about. Then he removed his mouth from her nipple and proceeded to kiss her soundly. He continued to kiss her until he felt her body relax against his.

Once again Chakotay shifted so that his knees were on either side of hers. With complete deliberance he pulled down her pajama bottoms. He crawled toward the bottom of the bed and opened her legs. With both hands he pushed her thighs apart until she was spread open for him to see. He laid his chest flat against the bed and rested his head on her inner thigh. For what felt like an eternity, he just stared at her womanhood, which was glistening with moisture, inviting him to take a taste. When he could no longer resist, he turned his head and kissed the curly hair that surrounded her opening. He smiled to himself when he felt her hips buck. This single action stirred him so deeply that he felt his penis swell even more. He reminded himself that soon he would have that very penis ensconced inside her tight walls but for now he wanted to drive her to the point of insanity. Without any more thought Chakotay used his fingers to open her even further and he ran his tongue across her aching bud. He repeated this action over and over until she was almost crying. When she swore she could take no more he pulled his tongue back and blew on her hot flesh. He softly blew hot hair across her swollen skin as she caught her breath. When she'd calmed just a bit he attacked her once more. He violently clamped his lips down on her already ravaged clit and sucked her flesh into his mouth. Just as her hips flew up, he plunged a finger inside her waiting hole. After he withdrew it once and shoved it back into her he felt all her muscles tighten. He sucked as hard as he could as the orgasm tore through her body. He rode out the waves by lapping up the juices that flowed from her body. When the final shudder came he crawled up her body and gently kissed her lips.

Her eyes were closed, her hair was a mess and she was out of breath and to him she couldn't be more beautiful. He rested his chest against hers. His whispered in her ear how much he loved her and with one quick motion he entered her. When he could go no further, he heard her sigh. Slowly he pulled out and entered her again and again. Together they created a slow sensuous rhythm. He pulled his head back and looked down into her eyes. He watched her pupils change as he pushed deeper and deeper into her. When he felt himself reaching his limited he pulled back and grabbed her hips. He shifted her up so that he could grab her legs. He lifted her legs into the air and entered her again. This time the angle allowed him to penetrate her even more deeply. He pumped into her over and over as she whispered words of love. When she wrapped her legs around his back and pushed her hips to meet him he could not last. With one final thrust he spilled his seed deep within the warmth of her body.

He felt himself collapse against her. He tried to roll off of her but she rolled with him. Together they lay face to face still softly connected in the most intimate of places. Kathryn rested her cheek against his warm chest and sighed contently. She almost couldn't believe that she was actually in bed in Chakotay's arms. When her heartbeat returned to near normal and she found her voice she asked him, "Tell me the truth, did you ever think we'ld wind up here?"

"Making love in the Paris' house? I have to admit I thought about making to love to you in a million places during the last years but the Paris' house wasn't one of them. So no, I never thought we would end up here."

She leaned up on her elbow and glared at the man beside her. "You know what I mean!"

He reached out and wrapped his arms tightly around the woman he'd spent so many years longing for. Yes, he knew what she meant and if truth were told, as the years passed he began to believe that they would never end up where they were at right now.

After

"Tell me the truth, did you ever think we'd wind up here?"

"Making love in the Paris' house? I have to admit I thought about making to love to you in a million places during the last few years but the Paris' house wasn't one of them. So no, I never thought we'd end up here."

She leaned up on her elbow and glared at the man beside her. "You know what I mean!"

He reached out and wrapped his arms tightly around the woman he had spent so many years longing for. Yes, he knew what she meant and if truth were told, as the years passed he began to believe that they would never end up where they were at right now.

He kissed the top of her graying hair. "No Gretchen, I never thought I'd be with you again. Some days the hope of holding you just one more time was the only thing that kept me going. I pushed myself to go through the daily routines of life on that planet hoping that you were doing the same back here on earth."

Gretchen continued to lovingly rub her hands across Edward's chest. "Was it awful?"

"At first it was a relief. I'd spent so much time on Cardassia that any place seemed better. Yet after awhile the solitude turned to loneliness and the anger to despair but then the others arrived and things got better. They looked to me for guidance. I seemed to find a new role. I filled a void in the newfound community and that responsibility filled a void in me."

"Did anyone fill the void of losing your wife?"

Edward turned and faced his wife of almost fifty years. "Gretchen, not once did the thought even cross my mind. To me, you're irreplaceable. Despite all the twists and turns that my life has taken, the best part of me remains you and the girls. I need you desperately."

Gretchen smiled at the man who'd captured her heart all those years ago. "And to think my father didn't want me to marry you."

"Your life would have had a lot less sorrow if you had married someone else."

"Or it may have been a lot more."

Edward pulled her to him and buried his head in her hair. "When I think about you all alone when you found out that Katie was missing, it breaks my heart. I don't know how you went on."

"The same way you did. I got up each morning and did the things I had to do. After awhile I met with some of the other parents. We talked about how we felt and that helped a lot."

"Is that when you became such good friends with Elizabeth?"

"Yes. She was devastated by what happened. She'd lost her only son and in the process she felt like she was losing her husband."

"It must be tough to lose someone when they're right there beside you."

"I agree. In a strange way I was better off than she was but as you can see things are much better now. Things are much better for everyone."

Edward rolled onto his back and Gretchen settled beside him. "Do you think things are better for Katie?"

"What are you asking me?"

"Do you think Elizabeth wasted her time getting two bedroom's ready for her and Chakotay?"

"Edward, are you protecting your daughter's virtue? Why don't you just march down there and ask him his intentions toward your daughter?"

"Gretchen, I'm serious! Before he knew who I was we spent a lot of time talking."

"And?"

"And nothing."

"Come on Edward."

"Okay I like him."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"No, it's not. It's a good thing. I think he would make her a fine husband."

"I don't think it matters what we think. She is old enough to make her own choices."

"I hope she chooses him. They deserve some happiness. Life has been hard on them. They both carry some very deep scars. I think she might be the one to heal him. He needs her desperately."

Gretchen grinned at her suddenly overprotective husband. "And she needs him desperately. But Edward, I don't think women want a man who desperately needs us. I think we want a man who desperately loves us."

"As I have loved you all the days of my life."

Gretchen turned on her side, reached up and cupped her recently satisfied lover's cheek in her hand. "And I you."


End file.
